Rhetorical Analysis Of Christopher Morley

Christopher Morley applies clever diction with rhetorical effects and utilizes satire to help achieve his overall purpose that every man should desire to be lazy. Diction refers to the writer's word choices combined with literary devices, while Merriam -Webster defines satire as “a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.”
The use of sophisticated diction helps to allure the readers to become lazy. The author advertises laziness in an attractive manner. Morley is able to communicate with the audience by showing he understands the “common man.” In the passage, Morley states, “It is our observation that every time we get into trouble it is due to not having been lazy enough.” Additionally, he used an amiable tone

throughout the story to help appeal to the audience through pathos. Ethos was put to use when Morley said, “ Doctor Johnson, who was one of the world’s great philosophers, was lazy.” This exemplifies credibility because most people trust doctors and it proves you can be lazy and successful.
This essay emcompasses satire because the author uses complex words throughout the essay, but at the same time those words contradict the purpose. The author should be using effortless terms instead of words like slothful, ameliorate, rectilinear, indolent, and quibble. Furthermore, Morley was very fond of mentioning topics and then moving on from them without explaining. These undeveloped ideas symbolized that he was too lazy to elaborate.
Morley made a short reference to the Germans saying, “ If the Germans had been as lazy, as indifferent, and as righteously laissez-fairish as their neighbours the world would have been spared a great deal.” He leaves the audience to infer the meaning of this, but portrays satire because this is not necessarily one-hundred percent true.
Through the use of diction, literary devices, and satire, the author was able to achieve his overall purpose. Morley was a very ironic and sarcastic man. He wanted his audience to know that being lazy is a good thing and it’s better off to be that way and take the easy way out of things. If you play your cards right, you could be very successful like Doctor Johnson.